Red pine scale found at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown

New Hampshire forestry officials have been removing about 120 acres of red pine trees from a state park in the last few weeks to slow the spread of an aggressive insect that's destroyed thousands of the trees in southern New England.

The nearly microscopic brown insect is called red pine scale. It was detected at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown in August. It's the first documented case of the insect in New Hampshire, though the bug's been a longtime headache in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Visitors to Bear Brook State Park may notice the missing trees, many of which are at the park's entrance. But the landscape isn't completely barren; there are nearby stands of white pines at the park that are waist-high to 10 feet tall.